Cotton-cleaner and boll-breaker



G. C. STACY.

COTTO'N CLEANER AND BULL BREAKER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB1I9|1920| Patented NOV. 15, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- INVENTOR 6E0 VEE,C 5774c)! ATTORNEY e. c. STACY. COTTON CLEANER AND ROLL BREAKER.

7 APPLICATION FILED FEB-J9. I920- 1,397,257.

P 8 A V w a MA INVENTOR Cieariz CSTfia'Y ATTORNEY G. C. STACY. conom CLEANER AND ROLL BREAKER. APPLICATIION FILED FEB. 19, 1920.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY stares anovnn o. STACY, or DALLAS. TEXAS.

COTTON-CLEANER AN D ROLL-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

Application filed February'lQ, 1920. Serial No. 359,761.

.T 0 (LR whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnovnn C. STACY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton- Cleaners and Boll-Breakers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning cotton and breaking bolls, and has for its object to design an apparatus possessing many novel features in its construction, the purpose of which is to simplify the assembling, dismounting and replacement of parts and for inspecting and adjusting them.

My invention contemplates the provision of'a cleaner casing interposed in the suction feed line for the gins, and in the cleaner casing I interpose a series of rotating bladed shafts having blades of a special construction which forms the subject matter of a separate application, Serial No. 349,449., filed the 5th day of January, 1920. These blades work over a screening concave carried by a detachable or demountable bed and by demountable cross bolts.

I claim as one special feature of my invention this demountable screen bed frame and the arrangement of the baffle boards below it, and of the refuse collecting pockets.

Another feature of my invention is the provision of removable screen slides forming said pockets, these slides being removable through a side door in order to drop the larger refuse which has collected thereon into the hopper bottom of the cleaner casing, and said door giving access to the under side of the screen concave to permit the lint cotton adhering to its under side to be cleaned off and knocked down into thehopper.

A further important feature of my invention is the incorporation in the cleaner of a boll breaking attachment adjustable with relation to the initial series of rotating blades and comprising a series of fingers xwhich swing upwardly to the desired. point away the boll between the rotating blades. As these breaker fingers approach the level of the beater shaft they increase the boll breaking action of the apparatus and as they drop breaking action is reduced. Another feature of my invention is the peculiar shape of the breaker fingers which are diamond shaped in cross section with their long axes vertically midway between the adjacent running blades and-thus their upper sloping faces have a tendency to direct the bolls into the path of the blades on each side.

Another feature of my invention is the arrangement of the boll breaker at the intake end of the cleaner casing, thereby callsmg the broken pieces of bolls to be collected and separated during the passage of the cotton with the broken bolls through the cleaner.

Another feature of my invention is the provlsion of removable side and top doors opposite the blade shafts, thus permitting the machine to be opened up for access, inspection and repair of such parts, or for reversing them for right or left hand drive without requiring any dismounting of the casmg, Also I claim especial advantages for a removable glass door through which I can inspect and readily clean the bottom of thescreen concave of lint cotton and remove the screen bottom slides of the concave pockets.

My invention also comprises the details of construction and arrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment only are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which z Figure 1 shows my apparatus in plan with the side doors and top doors removed.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1, one end of the machine being shown in vertical section on the'line 22 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 showing the boll breaker in its lowered position on the screen.

Figs. 4. and 5 show detail plan and end views of the removable top door.

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional and elevation 'views of the removable slide door.

Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views of the boll breaker shaft bearing and adjustable ports.

Fig. 10 is a detached detail view of the removable screen bed showing the screen partly in place.

Fig. 11 is a partial side view showing the glass door broken away to illustrate the manner of removing a slide bottom of a screen pocket.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the line 1212 of Fig. 11.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In theembodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, I show a cleaner casing interposed in the suctionfeed line 1 of the gin, the casing comprising a flaring intake connection 2 at one end and a similar discharge connection 3 at the opposite end.

, The connections-2 and 3 are provided with marginal flanges which are secured to the end frame 4: at each end of the casmg, which frame is formed of rectangular boards rigidly and securely fastened together. The

end frames 4 are connected at each side at the bottom by horizontal beams 5 and these are cross braced at intervals by transverse bolts 6, which, in the manner later described, serve in part to support the screen concaves.

Below the rectangular structure formed by the beams 5 and the endframes is a hopper 7, the'walls of which converge toward a bottom discharge door 8 normally held closed by suction. V

A separate screen bed shown in Fig. 10 is adapted to be inserted in the casing and to be supported at the top of the hopper 7 by the engagement of its reversely sloping end boards 9 with the sloping end walls of the hopper. These end boards 9 areconnected by side boards 10 having pockets formed along their upper edges by curved walls 11 terminating at their bases in,

straight sloping walls 12 which receive cross boards 13 that are mortised into the boards 10. The boards '13 are arranged in reversely sloping juxtaposed pairs to form pockets and the boards of each pocket having slide grooves 14 for the reception of a screen sliding bottom 15 for the pocket which is removable laterally from the casing in the manner hereinafter described. The high point be tween each pair of reversely curved walls 11 of the side boards stand immediately under a cross connecting bolt 6, as is better shown inFigs. 2 and 10.

The removable screen bed carries a series of depending baflle boards 16 having the same slope and extending to the same level as the left hand end board 9 of Fig. 10 with which they are parallel and it is also provided with a series of shorter baffle boards 17 parallel with the right hand end board 9 and arranged so thateach forms with the adjacent reversely sloping board 9' or 16', as the case may be, a contracted outlet 18 through which the foreign matter sifting through the screen bed proper will work its way into the hopper 7 of the casing. It will be noted that each pair of adjacent baffles 16, 17 converges upwardly toward its respective pocket formed by the walls 13 and 15, and the most important purpose of these baffle boards is to concentrate the up draft on the screen bottoms of the pockets so that any cotton that has fallen therein when the gin suction was interrupted will be instantly picked up and carried off with the cotton flowing through the cleaner to the gin. Moreover, these baflies prevent eddies and cross currents in the hopper.

The screen bed is made up of sections of foraminous sheeting, eitherperforated metal sheets, hardware cloth, or the like, and the sections are fastened along the top edges of the bed frame sides 10 which thushold them stretched across the machine. Qne screening section comprising the parts 19 and 19 starts from the right hand end of Fig. 2 and passes down the concave edges 11 and stops at the edge of the slide groove 14 in the first cross board 13, being screwed or otherwise attached to the frame and board in any suitable manner. The second screening section 20 starts from the groove 14 on the opposite side of the pocket, extends upwardly over the board 13 and follows up the adjacent concave walls 11 and passes over the bolt 6 and turns down the next concave walls 11 and terminates at the groove 14 in the board 13 of the second pocket. In this manner the screen bed is formed of sections assembled in the manner described. The screen bed under the boll breaker, which will be later described, is preferably formed by a screening section 19, see Fig. 3,'which is similar to 19 except that a series of longitudinal pockets or indentations 21 are formed therein to receive the boll breaker blades 22.

The boll breaker is preferably formed as an integral casting comprising a shaft 23 and a series of parallel breaker blades 22 which are diamond shaped in cross section. The ends of'the shaft fit snugly between the side walls of'the removable bed frame and one end is provided with a square countersunk end hole to receive the gudgeon pin 24 which projects through and turns in one side wall 25 of the casing, the other end of the breaker shaft being reduced to form a hearing with its outer end squared to recive an operating crank 26. This crank has hinged thereto by a'pin an operating arm 27 which passes down through a guide bracket 28 near the bottom of the casing and is adapted to be adjust-ably positioned by a set screw 29 working through the bracket and engaging in one of a series of adjustment holes in the arm. A stop pin 30 (see Fig. 9) on the casing arrests the crank arm when the breaker arms are in their extreme raised position. When in lowered position; the breaker arms lie snugly in the pockets 21 of the screen section 19.

The casing proper is provided at each'end with short side walls 25 and these side walls are braced overhead by bars 31 which stop about midway between the end frames and the center of the casing and are braced by vertical bars 32 to the bars 5. These bars 31 are connected overhead at each end of the casing by a top section 33. The permanently attached side walls 25 and top walls 33 are thus interruptedto leave the whole middle section of the casing free to be exposed overhead. The chief object of this is to provide for the removal of all. casing parts above or opposite the operating mechanism in the cleaner.

The operating mechanism in the cleaner comprises a plurality of cross shafts 34, each mounted in its respective bearings 35 which are bolted on the beams 5 removable, see Fig. 7. Pulleys 36 are fast on corresponding ends of the shafts 34 which overhang from the casing and are all driven in the same direction by a belt 37. The portion of the shafts lying between the side walls has mounted thereon a series of heaters 38 which form the subject matter of a separate application and are herein briefly described as comprising a star shaped arrangement of thin star shaped blades mounted centrally around elongated hubs 39 which abut to space them on the shafts 34' on which they are fast. I have shown three shafts 34 with the boaters relatively staggered on adjacent shafts. The middle shaft with the smaller number of heaters has end collars 40, and these collars and the end hubs on the other shafts form a close running joint with the side walls of the casing to prevent objectionable air leakage.

The beaters turn on centers substantially concentric with the curve of the screen concaves and the blade tips describe a circle close to these screen bottoms of the concaves. Preferably the circles described by the blades, as viewed in side elevation, do not overlap.

The openings left in the side and top walls opposite the operating mechanism are closed by a batten top door 41 and by side doors 4-2 having top bars 48. The end walls 25 and their top bars 31 are cut away so as to form a Slip lap joint (see Fig. 6) with the correspondingli tint away edges of the door s2 and the top ar 43 thereon, and at their base the doors 42 are provided with round notches 44: to fit over the shafts 34:. A removable pin 56 holds the joint parts as:- sembled. The doors 42 and side walls 25 form on the inside continuous smooth side walls (see Fig. 5) practically free of air leaks from end to end of the casing.

The top section 83, adjacent to the intake end of the machine. has a hinged screen deflector 45 connected to its under side by a cross hinge rod -16 (see Fig. 3) which proiects through the sine walls25 and top bars 331 at one end carries a crank 47 pivoted to an operating rod 48 which drops down into a position to be handled from the floor and adjusted to set the deflector at any desired angle. The rod works through a bracket 28 and is set in adjusted positions by a set SilGW 9.9 as desired in connection with the rod 27. 7

One side wall 49 of the hopper immediately below the beam 5 is cut away to form a long narrow opening 50 normally closed by a glass door 51 which is normally held in place by clamps 52. By removing this glass door the screen bottom sides 15 can be drawn out so as to drop into the hopper bottom of the casing all large refuse and foreign matter that has collected in the pockets and access can be had through the hand holes 53 in the sides 10 of the screen bed frame to clean off all lint adhering to the under face of the screens.

In operation, having mounted the heater shafts in the manner described, and set in place the side and top doors of the casing, as well as the glass door 51, the apparatus is ready for service and power to drive the beater shafts is transmitted by a belt 54 or any other suitable source of power to a pulley 55 on one of the shafts 34; at the opposite end from the pulley 36 thereon. The driving shaft 34., carrying the pulley 55,

can be arranged at either end of the ma-- chine. The blades turn in a direction to drive the incoming cotton toward the screen bed and, assuming the breaker blades to be adjusted to lowered position in the screen pockets 21, the cotton is deflected downwardly by the deflector 45 and is caught by the blades of the first heaters and whipped over the first screen concave. As the cotton rides up the far side of the concave it works over the hump in the screen above the first cross bolt 6 and as it falls over this hump it is inverted and caught by the second series of blades and is whipped over the second concave, it being a special feature of my construction that the cotton inverts itself as it passes over each hump of the screen bed and is engaged by the succeeding set of blades. In. this manner it is discharged in clean condition from the machine. The larger foreign matter that will not work through the holes in the screen bed collect in the pockets on the perforated slide bottoms 15 and can be discharged from time to time into the bottom of the hopper by opening glass door 51 and pulling out the slides 15. When cotton full of bolls is to be cleaned, the boll breaking blades are 'set at the desired angle and tlieycooperate with the first series of beater blades to thoroughly break up the bolls and release the cotton to be subsequently cleaned and separated from the bolls in traversing the machine. It is of importance that the beater shafts shall turn at such a high speed as to handle the cotton, as fast as the suction blast will feed it to the machine, beat it down against the screen without permitting any to get to the beater shaft or to accumulate in the cleaner. When the gin suction is interrupted the cotton drops onto the screen concave and into the' automatically and the baflles 9, l6 and 17 direct the out-rush ofair from the hopper upwardly through the screen so that it principally passes through the pockets in the concaves and thus picks up any cotton therein and restores it to the action of the cotton feeding draft through the cleaner;

It is of much importance also that the shafts carrying the heaters be disposed below the main overhead air passage and that the beater blades be so thin as not to reduce materially the velocity of the air current in traversing the cleaner. Throughthe opening 50 and the hand holes 53 the bottom of the screens and the baflles can be cleaned of lint cotton or foreign matter, and in fact casing and adapted to deflect the entering cotton downwardly from said air current causing it to pass between said axes and the COIlCdVQ.

2. In a cotton cleaner, a casing adapted to be interposed in a suction feed line for a gin, having at its top a substantially straight undeflected and unrestricted air passage, beaters having axes set substantially below said passage and having their radial blades traversing the passage, screening concaves under the heaters, and means to deflect the entering cotton downwardly toward the axis of the first beaterwithout substantially restricting the passage of the air current therethrough, substantially as described.

3. In a cotton cleaner, rotary heaters, a screen concave under the heaters having a transverse pocket along its bottom, a perforated removable slide bottom in said pocket, and a door in the side of the casing giving access to said slide and to the bottom of the screen lconcave.

' 4. In a cotton cleaner, a casing adapted to be interposed in the suction feed line to the gin and comprising a plurality of heaters, a screening concave bed mounted in the casing below the heaters, there being hand holes in the bed below the screening concave, and a removable glass door in the casing giving access to said hand holes. 7

V 5. 'A cotton cleaner comprising a casing adapted to be interposed in the suction feed line to the gin, a plurality of heaters rotatable therein, a hopperhottoni having a suction controlled door, a screening concave under the heaters, baifle boards disposed to mama? concentrate the uprush of airon a restricted transverse bottom zone of the concave.

6. A cotton cleaner comprising arousing" comprising a bed having side and end walls,

foraminous metal plates attached to said walls which are shaped to provide screening concaves, transverse spaced cross connecting boards at the bottom of each concave to which the foraminous metal plateis attached, and a screen bottom in the pocket formed between said boards.

8. In a cotton cleaner, a screening concave comprising a bed having side and end walls, foraminous metal plates attached to said walls which are shaped to provide screening concaves, transverse spaced cross connecting boards at the bottom of each concave to which the foraminous metal plate is attached, a screen bottom in the pocketformed between said boards, and battle boards which diverge downwardly from the bottom of said boards. I I

9. V In a cotton cleaner, a screening concave comprising a bed having side and end wallsforaminous metal plates attached to said walls which are shaped to provide screening concaves, transverse spaced cross connecting boards at the bottom of each concave to which the foraminous In plate is attached, a screen bottom in ocket formed between the boards, said hoards being disposed to converge downwardly, baliie boards which diverge downwardly from the bottom of said boards, and a corresponding bafiie board for each concave being substantially longer than the other board and adapted to project under the adjacent shorter hafile board, substantially as described.

10. A. cotton cleaner comprising rotary heaters and a screen hed there under, said bed having foraminous screening concaves, and a pair of downwardly divergent baflie hoards below each concave, the battle boards being placed to substantially baiile. the uprush of air and concentrate it on the bottom middle zones of each concave, substantially as described. V I

11. In a cotton cleaner, a screenbed forming a concave disposed transversely of the cleaner, one wall of the concave havinglongitudinal pockets, breaker arms adapted to rest in said pockets, means to adjust the breaker arms relatively to the screen concave, and rotating breakers working over the concave between the breaker arms, substantially as described.

vl2. In a cotton cleaner, a rotating beater comprising a shaft and blades thereon, ascreening concave under the beater, a rocker shaft carrying integral breaker arms substantially diamond. shaped in cross section which are staggered relatively to the beater blades and adjustable to operatin position between them, and means to adjust the rocker haft, substantially as described.

18. In a cotton cleaner, a casing having a hopper bottom with a suction controlled door and a top compartment for the air draft, a removable screen bed comprising reversely sloping end walls adapted to engage and be detachably supported by the hopper walls, a screening concave on the bed, there being registering openings in the side walls of the bed and hopper, a closure for said openings, and rotary beater means working in the air passage above the screening bed, substantially as described.

14. A cleaner casing having inlet and outlet openings at opposite ends, rotatable beaters in the casing, bearings for the heaters in the side walls, sections of the side wall above said bearing being vertically removable, and a removable top section in the cue ing above the heaters, the removable sections forming smooth continuous inner top and side walls for the casing, substantially as de scribed.

15. In a cotton cleaner casing, rotatable beater elements therein, a screen bed having transverse pocket members below said beater elements, cross tie bolts spaced midway be tween and adjacent to the horizontal plane of the axes of the beater elements, and screening coneaves under the beater elements formed by foraminous sheets mounted in part on the screen bed and pocket members and bent over the transverse cross tie bolts to form the apex beween adjacent concaves, substantially as described.

16. A screen bed for cotton cleaners, comprising gide walls cut away to form parts of concaves, cross boards mortised at the bases of the curved portions forming a pocket between them, baffle boards secured between the side boards of the bed and diverging downwardly from each pocket, and foraminou material covering the bed and following the curvature of its sides.

17 In a cotton cleaner, a casing having a hopper bottom, an intermediate screen, and atop section having inlet and outlet openings at opposite ends forming an air passage, a series of rotatable heater set with their aXes below said passage, the beater blades being adapted to traverse the passage proper, and means to deflect the entering cotton downwardly into position to be caught by the initial series of beaters and whipped over the screen bed, the heaters being formed by thin blades which do not substantially obstruct the air blast.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

GRGVER C. STACY.

Witness:

NoMrn WELSH. 

